“There are chapters in every life which are seldom read, and certainly not aloud.”

“Anyone's childhood can be an act of disablement if rehearsed and replayed and squinted at in a certain light. . .”

“Write the book you want to read, the one you cannot find.”

“This is why I read novels: so I can escape my own unrelenting monologue.”

“It's hard work being a person, you have to do it every single day.”

“Open a book this minute and start reading. Don’t move until you’ve reached page fifty. Until you’ve buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve.”

“Life is an endless recruiting of witnesses. It seems we need to be observed in our postures of extravagance or shame, we need attention paid to us. Our own memory is altogether too cherishing, which is the kindest thing I can say for it. Other are required, other perspectives, but even so our most important ceremonies – birth, love, and death – are secured by whomever and whatever is available. What chance, what caprice!”